Beijing's preparations for next year's Olympic Games have been described as "excellent" by the International Olympic Committee's chief inspector, who was as impressed with the aesthetic quality of the venues as with the Chinese city's preparations to host the world's biggest sporting event.

Praising the solid foundations that had been laid for the 2008 Olympics, Hein Verbruggen, chairman for the Beijing co-ordination commission, said: "Excellent progress has been made across the board. The venues took our breath away. All the venues are spectacular and will offer a very, very powerful backdrop to the Games."

Following a presentation by the Beijing Games organising committee, Verbruggen also told an IOC session in Guatemala City that the Chinese had an unprecedented sponsorship programme in place and ticket sales would be strong.

The organisers and local officials won praise for their combined efforts to tackle the spiralling pollution problems in the host city as China's rapid economic growth puts the environment under ever-greater strain. "Clearly, as a sports organisation, we want to be assured that the world's athletes will compete under proper environmental conditions," Verbruggen said.

Beijing organisers will this summer try out several contingency plans to reduce air pollution, including pulling a million cars off the streets, a strategy that could be put in place next year if it proves successful.

China has also been under fire from international groups for its poor record on human rights, with concerns having been raised about child labour and the jailing of political dissidents. Human rights groups have accused Beijing of failing to deliver on promises it had made ahead of winning the right to host the Games.

Verbruggen said BOCOG needed to strengthen the way it dealt with human rights matters because the issue could threaten the reputation of the Games. But he emphasised the IOC's main focus was firmly on the Olympics as a sports event. "We cannot allow those albeit important agendas to distract us from our primary position, which is of course to ensure that a successful Games is hosted," he said.

The Russian city of Sochi, which this week won the right to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, will offer online monitoring of venue construction to allow the IOC to keep track of progress, its bid leader said.

Speaking after Sochi beat South Korea's Pyeongchang by four votes for the right to stage the Games, the Russian bid's chief executive, Dmitry Chernyshenko, said that work on the 11 venues will be starting immediately. "The IOC will be online every single moment in terms of construction," Chernyshenko added. "There will be live video from all construction sites." Reuters